The Lion King: Ascension (original draft - discontinued)
by MysteryWriter2187
Summary: A year after ending Zira's war, Kiara prepares to become the Queen of the Pride Lands. But she soon finds herself imprisoned in a strange place while the emergence of a long-kept secret threatens the entire kingdom. Kiara must join with new allies and escape her imprisonment to save her pride, confront her family's mistakes and restore balance to the Circle of Life. DISCONTINUED.
1. Prologue - Recap

"Whoa, slow down, _mtoto!_ " Wazi laughed as her young cub ran and tumbled around the small cave they were sleeping in. She chuckled in a slightly weaker tone as she lay down on the ground, coughing just quietly enough so that her daughter couldn't hear her. A bit of blood leaked onto her paw from her mouth when she coughed, but Wazi managed to conceal it in time.

"So... what story do you want to hear tonight?" she asked with an eyebrow raised. Her cub was still hyper, saying _"ooh, ooh! The story of the great kings! Please, Mama, please! It's my favourite!"_

"Ha ha... I know. It's mine too." Wazi said warmly as she rested on the ground. Her daughter quickly clambered up her back and lay on her head, gnawing lightly on Wazi's ear as the latter chuckled. "Do you want to hear it or not?"

"Yes, please... please?" the cub slipped off Wazi's back and tucked herself under her mother's paw. "Alright. I'm ready, Mama..."

 _In the jungle, the mighty jungle_  
 _The lion sleeps tonight..._

 _In the jungle, the mighty jungle_  
 _The lion sleeps tonight..._

"Okay..." Wazi said, using her paw to clear the leaves and branches that were blocking one of the holes in their cave. It let in the bright moonlight, both she and her daughter looking in awe at the millions of burning balls that rotated around it.

"Look at the stars..." she said quietly. "The great Kings of the past look down on us from here..."

 _"All of them?!"_

"Hm... that's right..." Wazi said. "And whenever you feel alone, Kifa, what must you _always_ remember?"

Kifa cleared her throat and spoke in a confident, proud tone as she shouted _**"I am Kifalme! Daughter of Princess Wazi of the Pride Lands!"**_

 _"That's right, my little warrior, you!"_ Wazi laughed as she dragged her daughter squealing into a tight, ticklish embrace. The cub laughed as she playfully tried to escape her mother's grip, saying _**"come on, Mama! Not fair! Not fair!"**_

 _"Life isn't fair, darling..."_ Wazi chuckled, before her eyes went wide and she suddenly began coughing and spluttering violently as she pushed Kifa back. Kifa's ears sank miserably as she saw the blood coming out of her mother's mouth and staining the ground as she talked. Her mother had always tried to hide this, but Kifa knew about it. She always did, but she would never let her mother know.

Wazi turned back to her daughter, wiping the blood from her lips as she groaned out a laugh, lowering her head down as she said _"I think... I think it's time to get some rest..."_

Kifa nodded, becoming happy and cheery again as she snuggled next to her mother, looking up at the stars as her mother closed her eyes. "Mama?"

"Yes, _mtoto?_ "

"Are those stars _really_ the Great Kings?"

 _"Of course, darling..."_ Wazi said as she opened her eyes again and licked her daugther's head lovingly. _"Those stars will always be there to guide you when you need them, Kifa..."_

She hesitated for a moment, before saying _"and so will I..."_ as she lowered her head. Kifa chuckled at the thought of this, before tugging on her mother's ear again. "Mama...?"

 _"Ugh... yes...?"_

"Will we ever go back to the Pride Lands?"

 _"Well, I... um... oh... **you** will... yes... one day, Kifa..."_ Wazi forced a smile onto her face as she held her cub close and they both went to sleep. _"One day..."_

* * *

 **Many Years Later...**

Kiara and Simba both climbed back on to the edge, with the others surrounding them to express their relief. Zira was gone, the princess was safe and the war between the prides was finally over.

 _As you go through life, you'll see_  
 _There is so much that we, don't understand_

"Kovu..." Simba said softly, prompting the young, scarred lion to nervously step away from Kiara. To his surprise, Simba smiled warmly, saying "I was wrong... you belong here..."

 _And the only thing we know  
_ _Is things don't always go, the way we planned_ _  
_

"Let's go home..." Simba kept the warm smile on his face as he looked at the other Outsiders. "... _All_ of us..."

 _But you'll see, every day, that we'll never turn away_  
 _When it seems all your dreams come undone_

The sunrise welcomed a new day, and a new era, to the Pride Lands as the now-united pride sat together in a circle as Kovu went with the King, Queen and princess to the edge of the rock.

 _We will stand by your side, filled with hope and filled with pride_  
 _We are more than we are, we are one_

The animals on the ground below cheered and cried out as the entire pride joined in the royal family's roaring, while the clouds opened to let the sun shine down gloriously on Pride Rock.

 _We are one, you and I_  
 _We are like the earth and sky_  
 _One family under the sun_

As Simba looked up, he felt a tear stream down his cheek as he heard his father's voice echoing proudly from the sky. _**"Well done, my son..."**_

 _Tears of pain, tears of joy_  
 _One thing nothing can destroy_  
 _Is our pride, deep inside, we are one_

 ** _"We are one..."_**

* * *

 **THE LION KING**  
ASCENSION


	2. Playtime Is Over

**One Year Later...**

It was a beautifully hot day in the Pride Lands, and the entire Serengeti was enjoying the weather. Kovu smiled as he stepped out of Pride Rock's cave, walking down to where the lionesses were laying and sleeping on the rocks.

 _"Hey, Vitani!"_ he said, prompting his sister to look up at him with a smug grin. "Well... look who's up..." she snarked back, as Kovu said _"so... is Kiara around?"_

"Nah... she's out in the fields... no sign of Simba, either, for that matter... ugh, man..." Vitani said, before groaning as she heard a high-pitched growl from behind her. Kovu chuckled as he walked behind his sister to see the small, pale-furred cub that was tugging on Vitani's tail with her teeth.

 _"Hey, little one..."_ he said. _"What's your name?"_

"K... Koo... Kupendwa..." the cub stuttered out as she kept leaving toothless bites down Vitani's body before finally reaching her head.

 _"Ha ha... looks like you've got a playmate, sis..."_ Kovu snarked as Kupendwa continued gnawing on an un-amused Vitani's ear. Vitani sighed and effortlessly pushed the cub away, making it as clear as possible that she _didn't_ want to play with her. She tried to sleep again, before feeling something grabbing her tail once again.

After moving Kupendwa away again, she used her claw to draw a long line between herself and the cub, grinning as she said "alright. Let's play a game... It's called _Don't Step Over That Line_. All you have to do is stay on that end while I stay on this end. But if you pass through the line, you fall into it. Good, let's start... **_now!_** "

Vitani sighed as she slumped down and closed her eyes again. Kovu watched as Kupendwa looked at the line, wondering what would happen. The cub dared not step over it, because she didn't want to fall into it. She looked at the end of the line, noticing that it ended just before reaching a nearly-dried rain puddle.

Vitani was woken up by the feeling of wet paws on her face, opening her eyes to see Kupendwa nippling playfully on her ear again. Vitani sighed in annoyance, before she saw the footprints past the end of the line. She grinned in defeat, saying "so, it's obvious you've won that game, then..."

 _"Let's play another game!"_ Kupendwa said ecstatically. Vitani looked at her brother, who nodded encouragingly. She got up and smiled at the cub, saying "alright, kid... what game do you wanna play?"

 ** _"HEY!"_** a voice suddenly snapped, prompting everyone to look up in shock as another lioness ran over to them, grabbing the cub by the scruff of her neck and pulling her away from Vitani. **_"Honey... baby, are you okay?! Did she hurt you?! Kupe, are you okay or not?!"_**

 _"I'm fine, mommy..."_ Kupendwa said nervously to her nearly-hyperventilating mother, who turned back to face Vitani and angrily said _**"what do you think you're doing, drawing in my little angel like that?! She's just a cub! Don't you have any shame?!"**_

 _"What?"_ Vitani said as she stood up, obviously offended at what the lioness was implying. Kovu ran over, saying "hey, relax, Hasira... they were just playing..."

 _"Yeah, sure they were... you can put on happy faces all you want, and you've fooled the rest of us, but you won't fool me! I know what you **Outsiders** are really like..."_

 ** _"THAT DOES IT!"_**

 _ **"Vitani, NO!"**_ Kovu snapped as his sister suddenly leapt over him and tackled Hasira to the ground, both of them bearing teeth and claws as they tumbled on the ground briefly. It only took a few seconds before Vitani had Hasira pinned on her back with her paw pressed hard on Hasira's throat.

 _"Mommy!"_ Kupendwa shouted in a scared tone, causing Vitani to look at the cub and realise what she'd just done. _**"Vitani! Let her go, now!"**_ a voice said, causing Vitani to release Hasira as she turned around to face the Queen.

"Nala!" she said as the latter looked at her with a smile, still panicking as she added "I... she... I..."

 _"She attacked my daughter, Queen Nala!"_ Hasira groaned as she tried to sound injured, prompting Nala, Vitani and Kovu to scowl at her. _"If I weren't there, she'd have ripped my baby to shreds!"_

"Really? Well... you know, Hasira... everything you're good at in life, _I_ taught you..." Nala said, a snarky tone in her voice as she grinned. "You're a great hunter... a loving mother... but I never taught you how to lie... it's why you're so bad at it..."

Hasira gulped nervously at this remark, before Nala added "it seems you just can't accept that the war is over, can you? You still hold on to a dark past rather than aim for a bright future..."

"Well, with all due respect, Queen Nala..." Hasira hissed bitterly. "I just don't feel comfortable letting my cub's future be around _her kind_..."

 ** _"My kind?! What is that supposed to mean?!"_** Vitani snarled as both she and Hasira bared their teeth at one another again. "ENOUGH!" Nala shouted again, stepping between the two before they could rip each other to shreds.

She turned to Hasira, saying _"do you really want to cause a scene like this in front of your daughter?"_

Hasira scoffed at this, before she picked up Kupendwa and carried her away. Vitani was huffing and puffing under her breath, her claws digging in and out of the ground before she snarled angrily and stormed off.

 _"Vitani... Vitani!"_ Kovu called to his sister. He looked at Nala, who sighed as she said "Vitani... please just... don't be mad at her... Hasira's just a little... a little overprotective... she's still getting used t..."

 _"Overprotective?! How can you call her that?!"_ Vitani snapped as she aggressively turned around to face them again. _"What's overprotective about being a prejudiced, ignorant..."_

"I don't encourage what she said, Vitani..." Nala suddenly interrupted. "But I've known Hasira her whole life... look... the day Simba banished you all to the Outlands, Zira murdered Hasira's parents, _right in front of her,_ when she was two months old... you have to understand that she still has nightmares about what happened to them ever since... so yeah... while I don't agree with her opinions whatsoever, I can at least sympathise with her point of view..."

 _"Pft... whatever..."_ Vitani scoffed. _"She's right, anyway... Kiara can try to convince us all she wants, but I think it's obvious we Outlanders don't belong here..."_

 _ **"Vitani!"**_ Nala snapped in her sternest tone yet, prompting both Vitani and Kovu to go wide-eyed. _**"I want you to listen to me right now! You... belong... here! You're a part of this pride, this family, and we're not going to let Hasira change that! Ever!"**_

Vitani was still slightly shocked by this, before Nala sighed and said in a much warmer tone _"oh, Vitani, you're... you're not an Outsider anymore... none of you are... understand?"_

"Great..." Vitani nodded, clearly touched by Nala's speech but still trying to process what had happened, before she said "thanks for the pep talk, your majesty..."

As Vitani went back to her sleeping spot, Kovu looked back to Nala and said _"I'm really sorry about that, Nala, but... well... you know my sister..."_

"And I know Hasira, too..." Nala scoffed. "So, Kovu... I'm assuming you've got a date with my daughter somewhere?"

* * *

 _"Kiara! Hey, Kiara!"_ Kovu called up to her, prompting Kiara to smile at him as she finally looked down from the rock she was sitting on.

"Hey, Kovu..." she said gently as they rubbed heads affectionately, before she slumped back down on the rock and said "where have you been?"

 _"Well, you know... lazy day... actually, no... Vitani had a little trouble with Hasira..."_

"Trouble?"

 _"Yeah. It's probably not that important... so... what are you doing up here?"_

" _Pft..._ avoiding my father..." Kiara scoffed.

 _"Oh boy..."_ Kovu snarked. _"What'd you do, now?"_

"Ha ha... alright... alright, you're gonna love this... so, it's a beautiful morning, right? I wake up, the sun's shining, even _Zasu_ is in a good mood..."

 _"Right..."_

"So I get up and I walk out of the cave, thinking about all the fun stuff I'm gonna do today, and all of a sudden, my dad just stops me..."

 _"Uh-huh..."_

"Yep." Kiara snarked, before saying "and so... so he stops me, and he says **_Kiara... you and I have gotta talk_...**"

 _"Talk?"_

"Yeah, talk..."

 _"What about?"_ Kovu asked anxiously and curiously, before Kiara said "Alright, just listen..." before going back to mimicking her father as she said **_"you've done many great things despite your age, Kiara... and I've never been more proud of you than I am now..."_**

 _"Hm... makes sense..."_

"Yeah, so, um..." Kiara trailed off a bit, and Kovu could tell she was worried about what she was about to say. "So, uh... so he tells me, he... he says **_Kiara... Kiara, you're_** uh... **_you're all grown up now..._** and... **_and since no king could possibly ask for a better successor, I've decided_...**"

 _"To make you the Queen?!"_ Kovu shouted excitedly, nearly breaking down with pride as he added _"whoa! That's so great! Kiara, that's fantastic!"_

"Uh-huh..." Kiara answered back, sounding much quieter and less excited than Kovu was. He noticed this, looking at her and saying _"Ki... Kiara, what's wrong?"_

"It's, uh... it's not me, Kovu..." she sighed as she walked to the edge of the rock and looked at the plains in front of her. "Y'know? The speeches, the ceremonies, the whole... running the Pride Lands, that's... that's my dad's thing..."

 _"Well, maybe... but, come on... Queen of the Pride Lands... Kiara, you're being given a tremendous honour... and your dad's actually gonna live to see it too, so that's a plus..."_

"Yeah, but I just... I kinda feel like it should wait..." Kiara said. "Look, when my dad became king... he _knew_ who he was... at least... at least I guess he did..."

 _"And you don't?"_

"Well, I guess, but... but I think I'm still looking... Kovu, I just don't think I'm ready for this..."

 ** _"KIARA! KIARA!"_** a familiar voice suddenly called from above, both Kovu and Kiara looking up to see the hornbill flying down towards them.

"Zasu... Zasu, what is it?" Kiara asked as he landed in front of them.

 _ **"It's your father, Kiara..."**_


	3. Author's Note

**I'm really sorry to have to report this, but I will be discontinuing this story indefinitely.**

 **Because I'm working on other stories for other archives, I haven't been able to give this story the attention or effort that I'd prefer to. I've had this story in mind for months now, so rather than half-ass my effort and make it bad, I'd rather wait until I can give it the full-working quality of my other stories.**

 **So while I work on my other stories, I will be rewriting and revising this story to post later on (this will be done as a new story on the site). If anyone would like to collaborate or help me with writing characters and dialogue, you're more than welcome to and will receive full credit for any contributions you make.**

 **I will finish _The Lion King: Ascension_ eventually. But I'm afraid that time just isn't right now.**

 **Sincerely, MysteryWriter2187.**


End file.
